The International Cessna^® 170 Association

hilltop170 wrote:Bruce-
So that was your polished and red 170 sitting out in front of Mike's hangar.
Who did the overhaul?
How long did it take?
How does the engine run?
How many hours now?

My old crank was cracked so I had to get a new one, that was almost $4000 right there.

Richard.
1. Yes that was my plane sitting in front of Mike's hangar.
2. The overhaul was done by Jim Dittlinger of Alaska Aircraft Cylinders, in Peters Creek, 1/2 mile from Hilltop strip.
3. The time it took was off the map, it took twice as long as I planned (over 4 months). This was partly due to ECI who did all the machining work. It took them 2 months to do my crankcase work. Apparently they are/were that back logged last summer. It as also partly because Jim is a one man shop and when he goes on vacation or daughter comes up to visit... well things sit till he gets back. That's just the way it is with a one man shop but I did get a little frustrated while the summer ticked away.....
4. Runs great, Jim is very conciencious <sp> and does good work. He took care of a little oil leak right away and at no cost to me due to a faulty helicoil in a used but previously yellow tagged sump Drake Airmotive. My old original sump was corroded in the usual spot but was red tagged out as un-weldable/un-repairable. Drake told me that the magnesium alloy used in these sumps vary on a case by case basis and that some weld up OK and others will crack. It's a basically a crap shoot if your sump needs repair.
5. 45 hours now on ECI nickel cyls. About 15-18 hours per quart of oil.

$4k for a new crank!! My deepest sympathies....Good lord I'm glad mine was good to go with a -10 grind, although that cost over $1300 alone and at dealer cost.
Are you on skis? We should go out flying together here or ice fishing somewhere. I just bought a new ice auger........

Bruce

Bruce-
Thanks for the info, Mike (Mad Mike) Patterson did my engine. He works at his private strip out Knik Road and is probably comparable to Jim D in doing a good job. Mel Wick did the R&R of the engine. My overhaul took from July to October, looks like 4 months is about average now. I have 14 hours SMOH and haven't added the first quart of oil yet, those ECI Titan nickel-carbide cylinders are something.

My sump was bad also but Mike had a spare we sent to Okanagan for the epoxy repair. We'll see how long that lasts. Atlee tried to weld my old sump and it cracked. Okanagan would not touch it since it was welded on. Mike gave me one of his used sumps, no charge since I had asked him to send the old one out to Okanagan before he sent it to Atlee.

The crank was replaced with a new Continental crank which has issues of it's own, see "Beware of new Continental O-300 crankshafts" in "The Hangar" section of the forum. TCM is totally ignoring me on this problem so far but I'm not quitting yet. I'll only fly the plane within 20 minutes of an airport until it's fixed correctly.

I would like to meet up but am leaving for Texas in a couple of days and will be gone until after break-up. I'm not on skis, it's got the wheel pants on it, probably the only one in Alaska. Maybe we could meet up in May, are you going to the Trade Show or Valdez Fly-in?